I do not own Final Fantasy XI or any other copyrights such as Square Enix. Characters are of my own designed base on myself and on friends.

I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please read and review. All criticism good and bad is welcome.

The Safe Hold

Chapter 2

Yamaroo examined her hands. It was still too smoky to see well but the liquid was blood… She cursed the smoke for not letting her see. She kicked something on the floor. Her sword, he must have tossed it too her before engaging the demons. She picked it up and readied herself for a fight, but unable to see still just stood there looking around. The smoke started to clear and the shadow of a body was lying on the floor. Tears were once again welling up in her eyes. A depression suddenly took control as she looked on in shock. The smoke was finally starting to leave the room and she saw clearly the body lying on the floor…

At the last moment M let loose a powerful Katon ninjutsu. The demon nearly exploded and it caused enough smoke to make visibly close to nothing. His Utsusemi had suffered from the demons powerful attack. However, he was still in one piece and already searching for the last demon. Used to nighttime movement and navigating by senses other than sight he heard movement of a large creature. He also heard a small sword being picked up and thanking the gods that Yamaroo was all right he sighed. Quietly moving towards the sound of the demon both bloodied katanas drawn he was ready to jump when the window frame tore out and the demon took flight. Rushing to the hole in the wall he desperately started throwing shurikens at the black hell spawn as it started its ungainly flight back to where ever it came from. The shurikens bounced off of its leathery hide as it grew smaller and smaller in the distance.

Yamaroo stared at the dead demon and let out a sigh of relief and once again tears. This time tears of joy though. She immediately scanned the room to see M standing at the gaping hole in the wall that was once a window. Looking up at the sky with an angry look on his face. Letting out a hiss he turned to her and smiled.

"I won't let anything hurt my friends" he said as he collapsed from exhaustion.

It was raining in the jungle… it always rained in the jungle. Of course the Sahagin love the rain. They would, they are fish after all, the young ninja thought to himself. He kept moving forward though, steadily approaching the entrance to Sea Serpent Grotto and eventually Norg. The trip would have been easier if the chocobo hadn't been spooked. Chocobo's don't spook easy, why did it throw me off and run the opposite direction. This thought kept replaying in his head. Something wasn't right, but he had been to Norg hundreds of times, nothing out of the ordinary so far except the chocobo. He jumped down a hidden hole in the ground and looked around for the goblins that were always in here to escape the rain. Most of the time they wouldn't bother him, but if he startled them they might attack out of freight.

Hmmm, no goblins… but there are goblin weapons and some unfinished meals. That is very unusual. Goblins always ate everything they brought, very efficient for beastmen. He moved forward to the cave exit, which would show a small field before the hidden entrance to Sea Serpent Grotto. At the mouth of the cave he looked down for the first Sahagin… none there. This was getting very strange. He decided to sprint for the entrance. As he set foot on the first grassy part of the field…

M woke up on the floor of the inn with Yamaroo sitting at his side. She was fast asleep with her hand on her rapier. She must have been watching over him as he slept. He sat up feeling how exhausted his body really was. Thinking back to the last time he had slept was difficult. It was a week at least. It was a surprise he actually had enough energy to send the demons off. Of course the use of ninjutsu drains a lot of stamina. He cursed himself again and not wanting to rouse his friend, who was peacefully sleeping with a smile on her face, he stood up and gently pulled a blanket down over her. Sitting at the window he started thinking to himself. "When was the last time a demon dared get near Jeuno? Why was it here, and why did they not just try to kill her." After a few moments of thinking he sat up with a start. Rushing over to Yamaroo, upset at waking her up, but feeling an urgency that would warrant disturbing her slumber he gently shook her awake.

With a few blinks of her eyes she woke up mumbling something about how she wasn't sure it would work or not. Then realizing what had happened again muttered.

"So it wasn't just a dream." Looking up at the ninja she began to cry and threw her arms around him squeezing him tight. "I thought I had lost you, I couldn't go on if I lost you."

"It's alright, I am here, and it will take more than a few demons to bring me down." He smiled back at her as she released her grip on him. "But they weren't after me, they were after you. I wanted to know if you had any clue why."

"I don't know anything about it. They caught me off guard too; I had barely got off one spell when their mage silenced me. I was scared to death. (that I wouldn't be able to tell you)"

M looked at the red mage for a second, she wanted to say something else, but held back. He headed towards the door turning back. "We need to get out of here for now, gather your stuff together and lets go to a safe place." With that he left the room for her to change into her spell-casting garb.

Within minutes that taru red mage made her way outside to join the hume on the streets. They started walking towards the port area. Heading into the entrance marked "Kingdom of San D'Oria" they paid the cashier and waited on the loading dock.

"Where are we going?"

"Norg. It is safer there than anywhere else, even safer than the dukes palace."

"Why are we heading this way instead of taking the Kazham airship?"

"You will see." A very sly grin crossed his lips, which made Yamaroo laugh at the mischievous Hume.

The airship came and they boarded. Taking a seat in a corner away from the rest of the passengers they practiced silence for the entire flight. Upon landing M immediately led Yamaroo to the chocobo stables. Once on the chocobos they set out in the direction of La'Thien plateau. Traveling through the plateau the wildlife seemed to be acting strange. Only a few times they have acted like this. M looked around and saw what was causing the disturbance. A gigantic ram would meander through the plateau. A smirk appeared on the ninjas face. Once he had hunted these types of beasts for money. Quite powerful they could put up one hell of a fight. No time now, he had places to be.

After crossing into the harsh sands of Valkurm dunes M quickly urged the chocobo on. Yam following closely behind not saying a word, only following as best she could finally spoke up.

"If I remember right, this is about the furthest from Norg we can get isn't it?"

"Yup, but we will get there soon enough."

The gates of Selbina came and went and finally they reached the docks in Selbina. Paying the cashier and boarding the ship the duo sat back and rested. Yamaroo journeyed to the store located on the boat and browsed the fishing rods. As she was an avid fisherman she purchased none, but must have looked at them for an hour at least. Something was wrong and M knew it. She wanted to say something, but was either scared or didn't know how to say it. After a few moments he decided to go topside to get a breath of fresh air. The normal was happening. First time adventurers were watching the scenery go by for the first time while others fishing on the deck hoping for a nice catch to sell at the auction house. Further along the boat the normal crabs were crawling up the side to escape the ocean below.

As he turned to go back below deck a scream rang out. Quickly turning around just in time to see a monster finish climbing on deck. One brave adventurer tried to stand up against it, only to have one of the monsters tentacles swipe him into a cargo crate, knocking the adventurer out immediately. The scream brought Yamaroo above deck, sword drawn to investigate. She cast a spell to bring the body of the unconscious adventurer to where she was standing and set to work on healing magic.

The monster stood about 12 feet tall, with 8 tentacles moving it along the boat towards all of the adventurers. Its two yellow eyes seemed blind above water, as it did not avoid obstacles that happen to be unfortunate enough to get in its way. It had brown and black mottled skin, which was still wet with the slick salt water of the Bastore Sea. MG withdrew his katanas and quickly jumped in front of the monster slashing at one of the eyes on the giant beast. It howled in pain but did not slow down any. Swinging a tentacle almost haphazardly the monster missed the ninja by a good 2 feet. Slashing twice more, this time at the tentacle that had aimed to crush him, he landed gashes that spilled a fair amount of the monsters blood. Another tentacle came down in an overhead motion, to which MG sidestepped and attempted a stab. The Horror was quicker than expected though and slid to one side almost instinctively. MG and the Horror continued fighting for some time, until all at once the tentacled beast reared up showing rows of razor sharp teeth. From between the teeth an ink sprayed in the direction of the ninja. Unable to avoid or block the unexpected attack MG took the inks full force; knocking him against the ship railing. With ink still in his eyes and reeling from the pain of the attack MG rolled to the side without thinking; just in time to avoid a downward slash of the tentacle. Rolling around on the ground fighting for purchase on the slick deck of the boat MG felt helpless against such a brutal monster. He must have stabbed and slashed the beast at least 40 times already, and yet it refuses to die. Coming to the wall of the cabin MG had nowhere else to avoid to. Saying his last prayers to the goddess he braced himself against what would be the last attack. Before that could happen there was a burning smell in the air. The sound of a large object calling and not moving anymore was always a welcome one.

"I am sorry, my thunder was late. I had to take care of this adventurer." Yamaroo gave a worried look at MG and then giggled a little and finally burst out into uncontrollable laughs. "You look like a gobble with those silly eyes." She held up the back of her shield, which was somewhat shiny. With a wince of pain at some broken ribs MG took a look and laughed as well. Even though it hurt he couldn't stop laughing.

"It is good to hear you laugh like you used to." MG smiled as he doubled over half laughing and half coughing. "Damn, some ribs are broken, I suppose it can't be helped." He slowly got up and sliced the monster up the side. Inside was something shiny. A water crystal, how lucky. While reaching in to get it, something leathery rubbed against his wrist. Pulling them out revealed a pair of Kyahans, ninja style boots. With the help of the other adventurers on board the body was pushed over the side.

Night started to fall as the ship neared the halfway point of the trip. Yamaroo was dozing off, but was nudged awake by MG. "Stay awake tonight if you want to see how we will get to Norg easily." These were the only things he said until about midnight.

MG started to head to the door that led to the upper part of the ship. "Lets go look at the stars." He smiled a mischievous smile and disappeared up the stairs. Yamaroo followed close behind. When she got on deck what she saw shocked her. Another ship was sailing side by side with them. From the look of them… they were pirates, and MG was talking with them. He motioned for her to come over. "These are some of my Norg mates. They are the safest way to Norg and the fastest too. Lets get going before the captain of this boat sees us."

They both hopped on the pirate ship and sped away in a southeasterly direction. The pirates were nothing as Yamaroo imagined. They were much like normal people. In fact, they were normal people. All races seemed to be involved. The smallest taru to the largest galka all pulled their weight aboard the ship. Even MG was helping out knowing exactly what to do. Yamaroo felt useless while everyone else was working hard at keeping the ship in top condition. She walked up to the captain and shyly asked.

"I feel as I am the only one not working here, is there something I can do?"

The hume captain looked down at her with a smile. He had a scar running down his face from his dark brown hairline all the way down to his chin. The scar seemed to add to his good-natured look though. These weren't anything like the pirates that were told about in Jeuno by the authorities.

"Aye lil missy, ye can steer this boat all tha way ta Norg. Pretty much a strait shot. All ya have te do is stand up on this here pedestal n' look good while doing it. If'n ya having any troubles ask any of me mates on here. We all have experience tangling with Leviathans little temper tantrums." The captain walked away smiling leaving the taru red mage alone to pilot the shit. At first she was nervous and shaking, watching the compass and making sure that they didn't sail off course. Eventually her spirits grew and she started smiling and watching the crew work hard. They worked as hard as any slave, yet did so with a smile on their face. Some were even singing songs with each other.

(chorus) "Norg is where I would rather sail

there is no need for sword or mail

tarus fight and mithras chase their tail

Oh! Norg is where I'd rather sail

-

Jeuno chases us day to day

But where we sail no one can say

Tiss not a crime to be happy and gay

Which is why Norg is where we pirates stay

-

(chorus)

-

Pirates of Norg sail happy and free

To hell with them and to hell with their fee

They couldn't hit the ground if they fell from a tree

If they chase, our backside is all they see!

-

(chorus)

-

The reason we sing this song we will tell

It is for our brothers who in battle have fell

For them our soul we would sell

Just so in the future we can see them in…

The afterlife!

Yamaroo burst out laughing, as did the rest of the crew at the silly ending. After a few moments though the ship fell quiet in remembrance. The captain jumped up on the bow of the ship and let out a shout.

"Ahhh this brings back memories does it not lads?" (cheers sound all over the ship) "But let us not forget old friends who were felled in battle." The captain looks down, hand over his chest before looking back up. "They would call us a sad sight if they saw us moping around though, so celebrate them every day! I know you all know this, being the best damn crew to sail through Leviathans fish tank with me. I just wanted to give a history lesson to our miniature guest who be manning the wheel and keeping us sailing strait and true."

With that Yamaroo blushed a bit as the pirates let out a slew of cheers, catcalls and compliments. After the commotion stopped and things settled down, crews started taking shifts to get food, bringing a plate back to fellow crew mates. MG came up to Yamaroo with a plate of food, which looked much like it was scraped off the bottom of the boat, but a kind gesture none the less.

"I know what you are thinking, how did they get under the boat to get this." He let out a chuckle. "It is really good stuff though, health and tastes pretty decent. Let me take the wheel while you get some food, you will need it. These are good men and women, but are under constant attack. And once we get to Gilgimesh, I hope we can find out more details about your attack." He looked down at Yamaroo with a serious face for a moment; she was happily eating away at the slop, which they called food. He lightened up a bit, knowing the people here were as strong as any adventurer and a lot smarter than most. No sooner had she finished eating than she fell asleep sitting at his feet.

"Quite the lady you have there my old ninja friend." The captain walked slowly up to MG. "A lot of people would have cowered away or even hidden themselves below deck, but she was trying to learn the words to the song. I am impressed."

"Yeah, I have few friends as good as her. I could jump into the pits of hell and I am sure she would follow. Hell it seems the pits of hell are jumping at her recently. I just want to fin…"

Before he could finish his sentence a whistle sounded and the scout in the crows nest called down.

"SHIPS TO THE NORTH, THEY HAVE NO INSIGNIA AND NO LIGHTS!"

"Shit." Was all MG could say as he made out the silhouettes in the dark sky.

The crew scrambled for their weapons. Almost all of the crew carried rapiers or short swords. A few hefted giant axes of some sort. One mithra in particular was holding two knives at the same time yet were no ninja. As the demons approached the pirate captain gave a nod and all the sailors pulled out a gun and fired into the air. A cloud of smoke was the only thing visible where the pirates were standing. The pirates used this time to scatter and take up positions that were more favorable than a strait line facing the wave of winged hell spawn. More shots were fired and a few of the leathery skinned menaces fell from the sky. From the far side of the deck a barrage of arrows came flying at a demon about to touch down. Pierced in multiple places the demon fell backwards into the black nighttime water. The dual wielding mithra had a smug look on her face as she re-knocked her bow.

The first demons started touching down on the deck their giant swords swinging at the pirates. The swings were dodged and parried. Demon after demon was being cut down with minimal injury to the pirate crew. A few minor slashes here and there, but nothing life threatening. The pirates started to diminish the numbers of the archaic monsters when things got bad. Over the side of the ship sahagins started crawling on board. Now being attacked from the front and rear the pirates went from offensive to defensive. A few fell only to be covered by their shipmates ignoring the non-fatal blows and parrying the ones directed at vital organs. The captain who was currently engaged in a fight with three different demons gave a nod to a taru sailor who immediately finished the sahagin who he was currently engaged in and scrambled below deck. Within a few minutes the ship began to rumble. The center mast broke in half, the top tumbling to the ocean leaving the bottom half spewing smoke into the air. The ship began to pick up speed as more smoke bellowed out of the stern.

"Oi mates, lets show these abominations the ingenuity of the sailors of Norg. Feed the bellows, we are steaming out of here!"

Yamaroo who had been fighting a dagger wielding sahagin suddenly came to the conclusion that this was a ship that could move by steam as well as sails. She thrust her rapier at the sahagin only to have it dodge and attempt a slash at her, which was deflected by a spell of stoneskin that let her take hits like a paladin for a while. With a backhand swipe from the still extended fencing sword she slashed the sahagin across its frog-like body sending it sprawling into the nighttime ocean. As she looked around she saw the crew fending off the rest of the demons and frogmen sending them into the icy depths or cutting them down. With very few injuries they seemed lucky to get out alive. The remaining demons took flight but could not catch the steam ship headed towards Norg.

After about an hour all signs of the invaders had passed except for the injured sailors. There was one death among the crew; a galka who covered a shipmate from a sneak attack from the rear had taken a sword in the throat. The sailors all said their respects and after a few words from the captain about his life on the ship; it seems he knew all of his crew personally; he was given a proper burial at sea. The morning pulling into Norg was a somber morning. The crew unloaded the cargo and injured all while humming a deep slow tune to which the words were not to be heard.

Yamaroo stepped off the ship onto the dock with her ninja friend who looked around expecting to see someone and having seen a bald hume gave a nod and walked over to him.

"Ryoma, I have a few things to talk about with Gilgimesh, could you look after my friend here, make sure she finds her way around? Now she is a good friend, so don't go treating her like you do everyone else or else I might forget about what I promised to get you while coming back to the main land."

The bald hume scowled at the ninja and finally nodded and looked at the taru red mage. He walked over to her and grunted looking her up and down.

"Well at least you aren't one of the normal punks who comes here begging for help and asking advice. I don't do that. If I drop a hint, it is purely by accident. I can see from the beastmen blood though, that you are no green back. So welcome ta Norg, land of dreams."

He motioned with his hand at the cavern like community with all sorts of shady looking people involved in one lucrative trade or another.

"Missy, this is the best place in the world despite the appearance. Now watch your gil purse and lets find you a place to stay."

The red mage and the rather disgruntled hume headed off to find a temporary room for her to stay in. Which was a good thing seeing how she was so exhausted she could drop on the spot. Hopefully tomorrow would bring answers. If MG trusted this man enough for information, then he had to have it.

Stepping in the room that Ryoma had shown her she immediately fell into a deep sleep. Dreaming of days when things weren't so bad. Beastmen were secluded within their fortresses and adventures roamed all parts of the world… yes good times they were. Good times…